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Lucie en France French Reading Comprehension 4082380
Lucie en France French Reading Comprehension 4082380
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Learning the French language has many stages. You begin with basic vocabulary, then
start to form sentences, and eventually, you can become pretty fluent. But how well can
you read in French?
The ability to read and comprehend in French will be the next step in your lessons. It will
be useful as you integrate the language into more parts of your life, particularly if you will
be living or working with native French speakers.
Learning to read French will help you learn more about sentence and paragraph structure
and put words you know vocally into a visual context. This will become valuable as you
begin to read more and learn how to write in French.
Each section is a chapter of the story itself which you can work on individually. Only
"Chapter 2: Lucie en France II - L'appartement" has been translated into English, though
you will not find that until the very bottom of the article.
The goal of this lesson is for you to figure out the story for yourself, not to compare English
and French translations. It will be a challenge for many students, but a worthy endeavor for
those who wish to further their French studies.
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1. Read through each chapter individually. Speak it out loud as you read so you
are familiar with the words or can recognize vocabulary and put it into context
with what you already know.
2. Study each chapter's vocabulary and grammar and use these to help you figure
out the story on your own. Each section includes both a vocabulary and
grammar lesson, with the grammar focusing on a separate part of speech (e.g.,
verbs, prepositions, or adjectives).
3. Write down your English translation for each chapter, then read it again in
French. Do you need to correct your initial translation? Did you miss an
important detail in the story? Is there a word that you are not familiar with?
4. If you would like, check your translation with the one given for the second
chapter of the story. Don't peak down there unless you absolutely have to! Try
to figure it out yourself, then compare your translation with it. When you've done
this, read through and check your translation of the other two chapters and see
if you have any corrections.
5. Go at your own pace. This lesson can be done in a single night or take a month
to complete, depending on your level of French. It is a challenge, but a worthy
one and it should help you understand French a little better.
Son projet est d'étudier en France pendant un an, pour obtenir sa licence ès informatique
à l'Université de Versailles à St. Quentin-en-Yvelines. C'est l'université qui lui a offert une
bourse pour faire ses études. En plus, sa copine Josephine fait ses études là-bas, et Lucie
va pouvoir vivre avec elle dans son petit appartement.
Elle prend le RER qui la mène directement à la Gare St. Lazare, en centre-ville. Une fois
arrivée, elle cherche le quai du train pour Versailles. Elle monte dans le train, et bientôt il
entre dans un tunnel sombre en direction de Versailles. Lucie est un peu déçue, parce
qu'elle doit rester à Versailles bien qu'elle veuille vivre à Paris. Mais elle se dit que
Versailles n'est qu'à quelques minutes en train de la grande ville de Paris, et qu'il y a aussi
plusieurs attractions à Versailles.
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Le train sort du tunnel, et en passant par la grande ville, elle voit un grand cimetière, la
tour Eiffel et Montmarte avec la basilique du Sacré-Coeur tout près. Quelques instants plus
tard, elle arrive en gare de Versailles.
Elle est arrivée à destination. Devant elle le grand Château de Versailles où Louis XIV, le
Roi Soleil, organisa des fêtes et vécut la grande vie entouré de ses maîtresses. À droite se
trouve l'avenue de St.-Cloud, où est situé l'appartement dans lequel elle va vivre avec
Josephine. Fatiguée, mais joyeuse, elle commence à chercher l'adresse de l'appartement.
« Toute seule dans un nouveau pays, ne connaissant personne, l'avenir, je t'embrasse
vivement ! » se dit Lucie.
Did you know all of these words? Read the story again after reviewing this list to see if you
have a better understanding of what is going on.
déçue - disappointed
un projet - plan
le quai - platform
veuille - wants
Note all of the different verb forms that are used in the story. If you wish to learn more
about a verb form or want to review how to use them, click on the link for a detailed lesson.
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veuille - subjunctive
Mais d'abord, elle se promène sur l'avenue St. Cloud pour trouver l'appartement. Elle le
trouve juste en face du poste de police, dans une petite maison en brique. Elle met ses
bagages devant la barrière qui sépare le petit passage qui mène du trottoir à la porte de la
maison. Elle presse la petite sonnette jaune qui est à côté du nom « Joséphine Gérard ».
Sa copine, Joséphine, dont elle a fait la connaissance sur le Web, ouvre la porte.
Joséphine lui fait deux bises. Stupéfaite, Lucie demande pourquoi elle a fait ça. « Ça se
fait en France. Les filles se font deux bises, les mecs font deux bises aux filles, et entre
eux, les mecs se serrent la main. On fait tout ça pour se dire bonjour ».
« Viens avec moi, dit Joséphine, je vais te montrer l'appart', il est petit, mais c'est notre
chez nous ». En silence, Lucie la suit. Stupéfaite, elle regarde l'entrée de cet appartement.
Elle n'en croit pas ses yeux. Elle entre dans le couloir, et elle voit que les murs sont peints
en rouge. Rouge partout. Le parquet est en bois, très beau, on dirait du chêne. Le plafond
est noir. À gauche il y a une petite table en fer, dessus est posé le téléphone.
Note: The English translation for this part of the story is at the bottom of this article. Try not
to peak until you have attempted to translate it yourself.
Much of the story takes place in l'appartement, so you may want to review French home
vocabulary as well.
You will also notice that the writer used many informal terms in this section. Those are
marked with an asterisk * in this list and are useful to learn so your sentences become
more natural.
un appart* - apartment
un bisou* - kiss
le chêne - oak
déjà - already
dessus - on top
un plafond - ceiling
un trottoir - sidewalk
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Note that the author used many prepositions in this story to give you a better sense of the
scene.
Lucie lui propose d'aller voir le château de Versailles, qui n'est qu'à quelques pas de chez
elles. Leur projet c'est d'aller voir les Jardins, le Grand Trianon et le Petit Trianon. Elles se
promènent dans les jardins, où se trouvent plus de 300 statues, de vases et d'autres
antiquités. C'est la plus grande collection d'antiquités au monde hors musée.
Joséphine rit quand elle entend cette histoire. « Quelle bonne conteuse ! Je ne savais pas
qu'une fille américaine pouvait être si fascinée par notre histoire. Quand je t'entends, je
veux moi-même aller à Versailles comme touriste ».
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This list is filled with nouns, verbs, and prepositions, which you will find useful in your
translation.
copieux - lavish
un hameau - hamlet
hors de - outside of
un paysan - peasant
proposer - to suggest
se réveiller - to wake up
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But first, she walks along Avenue St. Cloud to find her apartment. She finds the address in
front of the police station, in a little brick house. She sets her bags down in front of the gate
of the little pathway that leads to the sidewalk of the house. She rings the yellow doorbell
next to "Joséphine Gérard."
Her friend, Joséphine, whom she met on the Web, opens the door. Joséphine gives her
two kisses. Shocked, Lucie asks why she did that. "That's how it's done in France. Girls
give each other two kisses, guys give two kisses to girls, and guys shake each other's
hands. We do all this to say hello." Joséphine says.
"Come with me," says Joséphine, "I'll show you the apartment. It's small but it's our own
little place."
Silently, Lucie follows her. Awed, she looks at the apartment's entryway. She can't believe
her eyes. She enters the hallway and sees the walls are painted red, completely red. The
floors are wood, beautiful and possibly oak. The ceiling is painted black. On the left is an
iron table with the telephone on it.
She goes on and to the left is a bathroom, which is across from Joséphine's room. A little
farther, to the right, is Lucie's room. She puts all of her things in the corner, jumps onto the
bed, and stretches her arms and legs. "Finally at my own place," she says to herself.
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